| Breaking the cycle of drug addiction
If a community were a pond, then drug addiction would be a pebble big enough to cause ripples throughout, said Jim Gouveia, Benton County Drug Treatment Court program coordinator.According to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, Oregon ranks No. 2 in the country for illegal drug use, and mid-valley communities are no exception."I can't say the drug problem in Benton County has increased necessarily," Gouveia said. "But we're up there."Drug use isn't an individual problem or even a family problem. It's a community problem, said Jennifer Hogansen, a behavioral health specialist with the Corvallis Clinic."The effects on children and families, in particular, can be devastating," Hogansen said.The drug problem is a top priority for the criminal justice and social services systems, as well as educators, mental health experts and taxpayers.Locally, a consistent approach of modifying drug users' behavior to achieve lasting, life-changing results is being applied to public and private treatment programs.
Marking National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month
Imagine a nation in which a deadly but treatable disease is taking its toll on more than 5 percent of the population. One that is wreaking havoc with the lives of millions of men, women, and children, but only 20 percent of the people who need treatment are receiving it. Would we help?These are the statistics that prevail in the U.S. today. The disease is alcohol and drug addiction.Alcohol and drug abuse disrupts families, threatens the safety of our neighborhoods and ruins the lives of countless men, women and youths. During September, National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, we recognize the damaging effects of substance abuse and renew our support for individuals battling to overcome addiction.The theme for the 2006 Recovery Month campaign is "Join the Voices for Recovery: Build a Stronger, Healthier Community." It is always our hope that the campaign will urge all Americans to help prevent alcohol and drug abuse and to promote treatment and recovery options.Recovery Month is a national public education campaign developed by the U.S.
Darfur killings meet tests for genocide
As a physician and public health professional who has dedicated my career to improving the lives of those with addiction to heroin and other opiates, I read with dismay The Sun's articles on buprenorphine ("The 'bupe fix,'" Dec. 16-18). I have never seen a newspaper report so lacking in balance and context. Every medication has side effects; what's critical is the balance of risks and benefits. Buprenorphine is an effective treatment for the dangerous disease of opiate addiction. Balanced against the benefit of saving thousands of lives is the small risk of diversion of the drug, which is a tiny slice of the overall illegal drug trade. It is telling that despite months of reporting and thousands of words, The Sun did not find a single person in Baltimore whose life has been ruined by buprenorphine.
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